The Mercatus Center asks, “How free is your state?”
Congratulations to Mercatus on the publication of the third edition of Freedom In the 50 States! The book is available online and in PDF form as a free download. In addition, a new website allows users to “explore and customize the freedom rankings,” as Roman Hardgrave notes in his introduction to the site.
Emily Washington observes:
In this new edition, the authors score states on over 200 policy variables. …. While several organizations publish state freedom rankings, Freedom in the 50 States is the only one that measures both economic and personal freedoms.
There is much to explore, but in the meantime, here are the freest and least free states:
The Top 5
1. North Dakota
2. South Dakota
3. Tennessee
4. New Hampshire
5. Oklahoma
The Bottom 5
50. New York
49. California
48. New Jersey
47. Hawaii
46. Rhode Island
The study includes an analysis and policy recommendations for each state. The website allows users to easily access this information by clicking on the map.
The authors of the book, William Ruger and Jason Sorens, also published an article today in USA Today, “States limiting freedom pushes people out.” They discuss this effect in the two least free states, New York and California. Freer states, by contrast, attract new people:
[S]tates that protect more of their residents’ freedom and make it easier to run businesses enjoy a steady inflow of people from more burdensome ones. They also enjoy higher personal income growth.
I enjoyed meeting Dr. Sorens at the Foundation for Economic Education’s Second Annual Winter Freedom Academy last month. In 2001, Dr. Sorens started the Free State Project, which works to make New Hampshire even freer.
As I mentioned to Dr. Sorens, I have found the prior versions of Freedom In the 50 States to be extremely valuable. The new version and the website will be even more valuable resources for those of us who study and promote freedom.
